


Fugit inreparabile tempus

by aryastark_valarmorghulis



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comedy, Growing Up, Hogwarts Express, Hogwarts Seventh Year, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, Pre-Slash, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 04:37:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15722112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aryastark_valarmorghulis/pseuds/aryastark_valarmorghulis
Summary: "Never — never —  have I let anyone off this train before they reached their destination. Some have tried — Sirius Black and his cronies [...]"How Sirius Black and the Marauders tried to get off the Hogwarts Express (as mentioned in "The Cursed Child") and failed.Set at the beginning of their last year at Hogwarts, includes: gratuitous latin poetry, smitten Remus and playful banter about growing up.





	Fugit inreparabile tempus

Huge thanks to [xinasvoice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xinasvoice/pseuds/xinasvoice) for her precious help and advice, and to [muse_in_absentia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/muse_in_absentia/pseuds/muse_in_absentia) for reading this.

Come find me on [tumblr](http://aryastark-valarmorghulis.tumblr.com/)!

 

**September 1, 1977**

 

“Moony thinks it's a stupid idea.”

Remus would have preferred to be left out of this particular conversation and enjoy the Latin poems he was reading, thank you very much, James. He had started to study the language that summer, in part out of boredom, in part to have a little bit of an advantage in the new elective course Hogwarts was offering this year, Rudiments of Spell-making.

No such thing as too many N.E.W.T.S when you're a werewolf, there's a war on, and job opportunities seem painfully scarce. Fascinating language, anyway. At this moment, much more charming than the argument he was about to be dragged into.

Sirius huffed, stretching one long leg under James' seat, while nudging Remus' ankle with the other, so that his attention swayed from Catullus to the incongruous view of a spiked black boot made of fine leather. It was unlaced and chunky enough to be more of a fashion statement than weather-appropriate footwear. Underneath it was a worn, faded striped sock, left exposed under Sirius cuffed old jeans.

 _Sirius, Sirii_ , from ancient Greek _seírios_ , meaning “scorching, destructive. “Moony always says my ideas are stupid, but then he's always eager to do some mischief. Isn't that right, Moony?”

Remus sighed. He had hoped to be able to avoid this inevitable quarrel. If only James had chosen a better argument than 'Moony thinks it's a stupid idea,' in order to reject one of the stupidest ideas Sirius had ever had.

Remus dog-eared the page he was currently reading without closing the book. “Anyone with a functioning brain would think it's a stupid idea, wouldn't they, James?” This is a talk James and Sirius ought to have between themselves, he reckons. The silly plan to hop off the Hogwarts Express and reach the school by broom was only a very Sirius-like attempt to put James, freshly appointed Head Boy, in a tight spot. It was a classic Sirius avoidance tactic to pull some ridiculous stunt like this instead of taking the time to talk about his real issues.

“Real stupid indeed.” James said, flatly.

“Last year you would have been jumping out of the window already.” Sirius mocking him is nothing new, but it lacks the usual light, teasing vibe.

Remus glanced at Peter, who also appeared to be sensing an edge in their tones. In their language of non-verbal communication fine-tuned by six years of living in each others’ pockets he was asking the same question Remus was asking himself: is it better to leave them alone, or to try to mediate? For now, Remus settled on feigning an irresistible interest in Carmina 5.

_You ask, my Lesbia, how many of your kisses are enough and more than enough for me._

“I might have, but people grow up, mate.” As the carriage became suddenly chilly, Remus remained stubbornly glued to his poem. _As big a number as the Libyan sand-grains that lie at asafoetida-bearing Cyrene between the oracle of sultry Jupiter and the sacred tomb of old Battus._

“Sounds boring as hell,” replied Sirius, voice ice cold.

“We could be seen by Muggles!” Peter barged in. Thank Merlin for his good sense. “Have you read that penalties for offenses to section 13 of the Statute of Secrecy have been tightened after that Death Eaters attack in-”

“Aw, little Pete is scared.” Sirius being a git with Peter was Remus' cue to speak up.

“Sirius,” warned James.

“Maybe,” started Remus, calm and without lifting his gaze from the yellowing page. _Or as many stars, when the night is quiet, see the secret loves of men_ , “we just want to enjoy our journey in a comfortable fashion, without risking expulsion before even setting foot at Hogwarts. Let's wait at least until tonight. I'm sure Rosier and his lot will do or say something insufferable, and we'll just have to retaliate.”

“Yes, mate. Indulging your tantrums isn’t a valid reason to jump off a train,” said James, hotly.

Sirius was about to draw his wand, Remus was sure of it, and then things would go very bad very quickly, especially if newly appointed Head Girl Lily were to barge in and find them hexing each other. But Sirius stood up and left without a word, slamming the door of the carriage.

James scoffed, throwing his hands in the air.

“What is his problem?” asked Peter, wary.

“He's being childish,” said James. “Look, I haven't become soft only because I wear a damn pin, all right? All summer he's been throwing himself in trouble--which I'm not against, but he only wants to do stupid stuff just for the sake of saying 'I've done it all', not even for fun. I guess he's worried that we're on borrowed time because there's a war looming over us, and it's our last year so might as well go into a bar, get smashed, and start fights for no reason whatsoever and get all beaten up. Great fun, don't you agree? I don't know what he's more afraid of, dying or growing up.”

Remus sighed; he still didn't want to take sides, so he settled on being the intermediary, as usual. _Arbiter, arbitri_ , a person appointed, or chosen, by parties to determine a controversy between them. 

“Growing up can be quite scary,” Remus said mildly.

Peter interrupted him. “Dying is scarier, though.”

“Of course, yes,” Remus agreed. The Prophet folded on Peter's knees flashed 'Attack in in a pub in Bath: three muggles and two wizards gravely injured'. “But it's a different brand of fear, don't you think? War is terrifying because it's- it's like a wall of bricks threatening to collapse on you and everyone you love, right? But you can at least try to smash it before it will crumble on you, or flee, I guess. Time, though, it's this wisp of smoke, you pass through it without even realizing it, it's fleeting and- er.”

James and Peter were staring at him, and Remus shrugged, embarrassed. Maybe the metaphor was a bit too much. _Fugit inreparabile tempus_ , it escapes, irretrievable time. Well, Virgil for sure said it more eloquently.

“I still think that war is much more scarier, and that summer in Wales must have been incredibly boring, since you obviously read too many depressing poems, Moony.”

“Yes, but Moony, we don't want to be stuck in school forever, right? And anyway, whatever happens won't change us, we'll always be friends, even with dreadful things like jobs and apartments ruining our already mundane lives,” replied James, confident that their friendship was a fixed point in time and space, unmovable and eternal against the powerless smoky fingers of time. Peter nodded, like it was obvious. Remus smiled, envious of their optimism, their innocence, even.

“Tell Padfoot that, then”, suggested Remus.

James huffed. “I have. He hinted that I'm getting soft because I've been appointed Head Boy, can you believe it?”

Remus and Peter smiled. “Outrageous,” teased Peter.

James ignored him. “Why don't you talk to him? He might appreciate that poetic tale about the bricks and the wisps more than us. Maybe before he starts hexing Snivellus just as Lily's doing rounds?”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Right, because the problem with that is he could get caught by Lily.”

James just grinned his most unapologetic smile. “Oh, you know what I mean.”

“Of course I do,” Remus replied, dryly, but stood up. His left leg still ached from a nasty scratch he had given himself during the last full moon.

Luckily, he didn't have to Levitate Sirius away from Snape and Lily: he found him just outside their compartment, staring at green hills and blue ponds out of the window, hands in his pockets, dark hair framing his fine profile. He wouldn't have been out of place on the cover of some glossy magazine.

"So. Did they send you to make me see reason?" he asked.

"Something like that.”

"So make me, Moony. I'm dying to hear all you perfectly reasonable, boring reasons," he spat, managing to sound both childish and haughty at the same time. Classic Sirius.

"Well, James thinks you're being a baby, and not about the whole jumping off the train idea.” Better not speak in metaphors, after all. “He said you're scared of change, but nothing's going to really change, nothing that matters, so-”

"James is wrong, and he's changed already, now that Evans has decided it's worth talking to him," interrupted Sirius, a little bitter.

"So you're jealous." Remus suffered a stab of jealousy himself.

Sirius shook his head, and turned to look him in the eye. Not even Latin could provide terms suitable for describing Sirius. _Pulcherrimus_ , the most beautiful. "Oh, please, don't trivialize. You know it's not that.”

Remus returned his gaze with the same intensity. If Sirius was in the mood to talk, really talk, he wasn't gonna waste the opportunity. He missed their talks during summer break. “So tell me what it is?”

Sirius just shrugged, then huffed, then pushed his hair out of his face, apparently struggling to find the right choice of words. “What if the best is already over?” he said finally. “And from now on it's all an inevitable downfall into adulthood. It hasn't been nearly enough! What if it's all going to be about how am I going to pay rent, what do I cook for dinner, am I qualified enough for that job, I can't be late I have work tomorrow, don't let me drink too much my girlfriend doesn't like it when I reek of alcohol. And on top of all this nonsense, there's a war on. We are bound to grow up, like it or not."

Like it or not. _Nolentes_ , not willing, refusing.

Remus tried to repress a smile at the dramatic nature of this venting, but apparently he failed.

“Don't give me that look. You think you're already so grown up, don't you? All that suffering, and the self-loathing, and the woe-is-me I am a-”

“Pads,” warned Remus, quietly. _Lupus hominarius_ , man-eating wolf.

Sirius stopped talking. They both knew how he could suddenly turn cruel and cold and cutting, and none of them liked it when it happened.

“What I mean, Moony, is that James, and Peter too, seem to think adulthood is just a new, thrilling phase, and everything will turn out just perfectly, we'll win the war and have careers, and families, and quadruple dates without ever drifting off, because they're only used to those happy outcomes. But I think, Moony, that you agree with me. You know it doesn't always work out like that."

Remus could live for those moments, he thought, for those glimpses where Sirius just poured himself out, trusting him to understand his most intimate and sometimes ugly, inner musings. He would come back to this conversation later and feed on it, when the time Sirius feared will come, and remember that time when they were blissfully alone in a bustling train, nothing but the truth between them. _Veritas numquam perit_ , truth never dies.

“I agree,” he replied, because he wanted to give back to Sirius the same sincerity he gave him, even if he wanted to soothe him. “But we have one more year of Hogwarts, of being allowed to be thoughtless,” he lowered his voice to a whisper and Sirius leaned in, “of sneaking off in the Forest... we can do more pranks than ever, drink all night in the Astronomy tower. Another year when the worst that can happen is being caught by Filch and getting detention.”

Sirius had that soft look in his eyes, that sweet smile Remus sometimes deluded himself into thinking was only for him. _Dā mī bāsia mīlle, deinde centum, dein mīlle altera, dein secunda centum, deinde ūsque altera mīlle, deinde centum_ , give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred, then another thousand, then a second hundred, then immediately a thousand then a hundred. He refused to blush under that scrutiny, refused to think that was a significant pause, that Sirius might-

“All right, Moony.” Sirius' smile transformed suddenly into a mischievous, bright smirk. And then he opened up the window and started to climb out. Remus grabbed him by an ankle just when he was starting to hoist himself up. “What- no! Pads, stop it! This is stupid, we haven't even taken our brooms-” But Sirius shrugged him off and disappeared up. Remus closed his eyes. The wind slapped his face. He grabbed the edge of the open window and lifted himself up.

Sirius, laughing softly, helped him steadying his footing on the roof of the Hogwarts Express. The wind was a violent whistle, making Sirius hair flail madly around his face, drowning his laughter in howls. “Happy now?” screamed Remus. “Can we go back inside, please?” A vicious gust and he nearly lost his footing, but Sirius was suddenly there to steady him, with his hands on Remus' arms. For a single, a single mad, terrifying moment, Remus was sure that Sirius was about to kiss him.

“It's bloody freezing up here!” They both jumped, but Sirius didn't let go of his arms.

“Pete!” he grinned, delighted.

Peter, who was wobbly on his feet, drew his wand. “What's the plan?” he screamed.

Remus groaned, “There's no plan! We're going back in- no, James, don't! We're going-”

“Bloody hell!” roared James, jumping easily onto the roof. Sirius only laughed harder. “Not only do you traitors decide to follow him, but you do it without me?” Not even the wind could drown out the indignation in James' voice, but Remus stilled. Peter pointed his wand to the right, and then they all saw her: the trolley witch was coming towards them, still pushing her trolley.

“Anything from the trolley, dears? Liquorice wands? Pumpkin Pasties? Jelly Slugs?”

They all stayed silent, stunned. The trolley witch was on the roof of the train. Between this and the imagined almost kiss, Remus thought he might be going mad.  
James was the first to recover. “We were going back in,” he yelled. “I'm the Head-boy, see?” He pointed at the badge pinned to his robe. “I was going to get them back inside the train.”

“You’d better!” She wailed suddenly, like a Banshee. They recoiled. “I never-NEVER-let anyone off this train before they’ve reached Hogwarts!” She picked up a Pumpkin Pasty and threw it. It exploded mid-air in a ball of blue fire. Peter screamed, louder than the wind.

“I DON'T LIKE PEOPLE TRYING TO GET OFF IT!” She pointed a finger at them, but her hand was transfiguring into sharp spikes.

“Alright, yes, we're going back in now!” pleaded Remus, a cold sweat breaking all over his back. Not really the time to talk this through. He shoved Sirius past her to make him go first, and thank Merlin he went without a word. She observed them eerily as they scrambled back inside, one by one, her spiky hand still pointed towards them.

Peter fell on his knees to the corridor floor in his haste to go back inside, and Remus too felt quite unstable and dizzy. The trolley witch was somehow inside the train now, back to her usual stomping grounds. They watched her as she calmly closed the window, hand back to normal, and then started to stroll along the carriage, disappearing into another compartment. None of them spoke until they were seated again, quite out of breath.

“Well,” started Sirius, “I couldn't have known that she could turn into that. Wow. I think I'm scarred for life now. And I didn't ask Moony to follow me.” He was almost smiling.  
Remus was still quite stunned, but almost smiled back. After all, nothing bad happened. 

“You're stark raving mad,” James shook his head, but he sounded fond. “All of you clowns are.”

Peter was still shaking a little, but his round cheeks had already regained their pink color. “What do you think she is...?” he mused. They all shook their heads. “All I know is that now I'd really like a Pumpkin Pasty, but I'm too scared to buy anything from her, ever again.”

James nodded, patting Peter on his shoulder. “Have one of mine.”

Sirius laughed softly, probably still enchanted by the idea of the troll witch sprouting spikes. Cocooned in the warm, comfortable carriage, golden afternoon light streaming through the window, Remus loved them very much. _Comites, comitum_ , companions, comrades, partners.

“Come on, it was fun,” Sirius said, stretching on his seat. Then he caught Remus eye and winked. Remus blushed obligingly. A promising start. 

**Author's Note:**

> List of poems referenced:  
> Catullus, Liber, 5  
> Catullus, Liber, 7  
> Virgilius, Georgicon, III  
> Seneca,Troades, 614


End file.
